


Litany

by omg_okimhere



Category: Ripper Street
Genre: Death, Funeral, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 18:14:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11697156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omg_okimhere/pseuds/omg_okimhere
Summary: Oneshot.  Takes place in episode 5 x 1, fair warning.





	Litany

**Author's Note:**

> A very short piece, written for a prompt. Just including it here so the library is complete, really. None of this ever happened, as far as I'm concerned. ;-)

_I didn’t mean to do it_.

  
The thought rabbits around inside Rose’s head as she shrouds herself in the shades of mourning.  When she fastens her long-sleeved black bodice around her ribcage, the stays prick nervous fingers, drawing blood.  Instinctively, she sucks it away, until the taste suddenly turns her stomach.

_I didn’t mean to do it._

_  
_The words fall like silent drumbeats for her ears alone, in time with her footsteps leading the funeral procession.  Her eyes dart through the crowd, counting familiar faces, noting those of the many strangers, avoiding that of Commissioner Dove. It takes only the slightest slide of her gaze to skip over the veiled looks of recrimination she encounters.

_I didn’t mean to do it._

The mea culpa is frantic to leave her mouth amidst the mourners gathered graveside.  Supported on the arm of the kindly bearded Atherton, she nevertheless feels her limbs begin to shake.  Her focus narrows to only the things she can see in front of her.

  
_I didn’t mean to do it._

_  
_The litany rises in her mind with the deep voices of the male chorus of coppers, whose farewell harmonies accompany the final resolution.  In a trance, she plays her part, lays a wreath, places one last touch.  There is naught but coldness under her fingers.

  
_I didn’t mean to do it._

_  
_The inexorable truth swells in her heart and roars through her being, drowning out the verses of committal as they fall from the lips of the vicar.  No one seems to hear her, not even the pall bearers as they step past her to do their duty.

   
 _I didn’t mean to do it._

Her brain cries out in anguish as her knees buckle and the gleaming obsidian casket is lowered into the earth.  She has never felt more alone than she does in that moment.

  
“I didn’t mean to do it”, she whispers, gasping back tears.

  
But it is done.


End file.
